2 Chronicles 6-10 CSB
Even for the foreigner who is not of your people Israel but has come from a distant land because of your great name and your strong hand and outstretched arm: when he comes and prays toward this temple, may you hear in heaven in your dwelling place, and do all the foreigner asks you. Then all the peoples of the earth will know your name, to fear you as your people Israel do and know that this temple I have built bears your name. (6:32-33)
The church was not God’s plan B to reach the world, but there is no denying that God has always had a witness and He expected the nation of Israel to be that witness to the nations. These chapters in 2 Chronicles give the details of Solomon’s dedication of the newly built temple. I try, at times, to close my eyes and imagine what that spectacle was like. He had taken 20 years to build the temple and now for 7 days they prayed, worshipped, and sacrificed 22,000 cattle and 120,000 sheep and goats. To imagine what it took to process all of that and actually accomplish their worship is enough to boggle the mind. Then on top of that, after Solomon’s dedication prayer, the fire and glory of the Lord visibly fall on the temple in such a way that no one can even enter. It is no wonder the entire nation bowed with their faces on the ground in worship of Yahweh.
In Solomon’s prayer, he outlines the significance the temple will hold for the Jewish nation. The place and the land were of great importance to them, but no space was more sacred than that temple. He prayed that despite pestilence, drought, famine, or even their own sin—that every Israelite would be able to face that temple, pray, and find the God whose faithful love endures forever. That temple stood at the center of their faith and their connection with Yahweh. Yet, Solomon prayed it would be more than that. He prayed that even foreigners who heard of the fame of God would be able to travel there, experience His glory and connect with Him. The vision was for “all the peoples of the earth” to know His name and fear Him as Israel did on that day. In the heart of Solomon, the temple and the worship there was to be a witness to the world.
It brings to my mind a picture of an Ethiopian Eunuch who hears about Jerusalem and the God of that city and travels very far to find Him. He doesn’t know what He is after, but something tells him the truth is to be found there. Today, the Lord is more about dwelling in human hearts than buildings made with hands. I honestly believe He has always been after the human heart and even today places can have spiritual significance for us. Yet, the New Testament is clear that we (the believer) are now the temple of God. Perhaps God is expecting us to be the same kind of witness that He expected of Solomon’s temple. When people observe you and your worship do they see the glory of God? Do they catch in your life a glimpse of the God whose faithful love endures forever? Are you being the witness to “all the peoples of the earth” that God and His glory deserve?
